by obcdexter
The current generation of consoles is about to come to its "official" end, with the arrival of their successors just around the corner. Obviously that does not mean big and small releases will suddenly stop surfacing on these systems for quite some time, but it still feels right to take a stroll down memory lane right about now.
(PC-only games released in the relevant time-frame are absolutely allowed to appear here as well.)
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I played through this game a couple of times on the PS3 already, but the steam-sale and available mods (fixes, really) for the PC-version really rejuvenated my love for the Souls series. I descended deep down the rabbit hole. Cannot wait for the follow-up. Maybe the one series I am most invested in currently. A perfect game? Not by a long shot. But it's damn near perfection where it really matters. Best combat, upgrade-system and atmosphere I've experienced for a long time.
I thought long and hard about whether or not it would be appropriate to even include this game here, given the fact that it was originally released for one of the last generation's consoles; namely the PS2. Golden is, however, quite a substantial upgrade from the original game, featuring hours of additional content which wasn't just stacked on top of the original experience but implemented into the existing game seamlessly. Add to that the fact that I never actually had the chance to put Persona 4 on any relevant GOTY-list on this site the verdict was pretty clear in the end. SOCIAL LINK GO!!!
In a way, in this day and age, it MIGHT(!) be a whole lot easier to create a perfect game when the groundwork you base your project on, is a puzzle-platformer with a rather antiquated look. At least in terms of graphics and various other technical aspects, there just doesn't seem to be that much room for error. And while Fez does already shine as this seemingly flawlessly crafted game at first glance, its real strength does not lie anywhere near this surface-level of design. So much creativity and just out-of-the-box thinking went into the mechanics of this game that it oftentimes left me speechless. Discovering Fez' secrets one by one, deciphering hieroglyphs and a whole language bit by bit--not once being frustrated or overly stressed by the complexity of it all--was undoubtedly the best experience I had in gaming for the longest time. I wish I could erase my memory of everything about and related to this game and just experience it again one more time as I did earlier this year (2013, PC version). And, no, I do not follow Phil Fish on twitter; which helps the case of this game a lot, I have heard. ;)
When the idea of this era-themed list first arose, I pretty much already had my mind made up to place this at the very top. However, looking back on Nier and keeping in mind that this whole catalog would be filled entirely with fantastic titles, that, each on their own, left a long lasting impression on me, I couldn't help but value its shortcomings and flaws (no matter how irrelevant they were to me personally) quite a bit higher than I normally would. Nier does have a great story, interesting characters, serviceable mechanics and a fantastic soundtrack. But it also does not look very pretty, play all that smoothly or innovate on any aspect of the genre.
Turned out much more than the little bonus-game it was intended to be. Its sense of humor does have to grab you early on to fully enjoy Portal, I suppose, but how could it not? gLaDOS remains one of my favorite video game characters of all time and I still occasionally inject myself with a dose of "Still Alive". There's not much left to be said about Portal. Apart from the witty, charming writing it manages to be a very solid, innovative puzzle-game that everyone should be able to enjoy one way or the other. It is rather short, but that's not to Portal's demise - I much rather have a shorter gaming experience that I can thoroughly enjoy than a stretched out one that has run out of ideas half-way through.
Looking back, I did get to see my Wii in action a whole lot more than I thought I would buying it during times where I was already more than happy with my PS3 and its library of games. Besides various creepy J-Horror games, plenty of Marios, Zeldas and your occasional sleeper hit, Xenoblade Chronicles was the prime reason for that. I put in well over a hundred hours into this enormous JRPG. For the Wii's generally low standards, it is a gorgeous piece pretty much from start to finish; where it really shines, though, are the consequential improvements on almost every antiquated JRPG gameplay-aspect. Xenoblade does have fetch-quests, it does have grinding for items, classic leveling, upgrade mechanics, a quasi meta dating simulation going on and whatever else you've already seen plenty of times in other games of the genre. Only it pulls almost all of those features off so much smoother, user-friendly and, frankly, better than most of its "rivals", becoming the ultimate allrounder.
I never played more than 30 minutes of the first game; technical issues on my PC kept me from it back then. When a port of ME2 was announced for the PS3 (my console of choice) I was ready to at least give the franchise another chance. On top of that BioWare decided to let players like me (those who, for whatever reasons, missed out on part 1) relive all the major parts and decisions of ME1 via an added motion-comic-prelude. A wise decision and a nice way for the Playstation-crowd to get them up to speed. What followed was maybe the best sci-fi video game I've ever played, despite experiencing the weakest version of it in terms of performance - but that was a) on me and b) something I got used to rather quickly. A shame many of the characters you spent so much time to recruit, befriend and help overcome major issues ended up only playing tiny or small roles in the finale of the series. But that's criticism of another game.
I do not consider Guns of the Patriots the best entry in the series. Actually, Snake Eater, MGS and even Peace Walker all would take positions ahead of it in my personal ranking, still I am not feeling weird at all positioning this game high up on this list while at the same time mentioned PSP-exclusive does not even make it. MGS4 was very good. Start to finish. I enjoyed most every second of it. Did so again just a year back when the trophy-patch was released. The ending, as pompous and stretched out as it was, really left me in tears of joy, because I've grown to care for the main-characters of the series so much. Closure was achieved and so many unforgettable scenes ocurred along the way (Revisiting Shadow Moses with "the best is yet to come" playing in the background; Confronting Big Boss--omfg). Me valuing three franchise-entries higher than MGSIV just goes to show how much I'm into this series; flawed as it may very well be in certain ways: I'm really not that much into many aspects of Kojima's weirdness or even storytelling--but I respect it completely. He does what he wants, however way he wants it and often enough hits a home run along the way. It makes awkward stuff like "The Beauty And The Beast Squad" or a fucking half-hour long wedding scene tolerable. I'm so fucking happy this series exists.
Almost completely forgot this one. How is that even possible? A great experience, not necessarily a great game, but fully functional. The cast of characters is the key to success in this one, really, since the zombie scenario itself doesn't exactly manage to surprise anybody anymore. All the more praises must be sung about the various writers of this episodic adventure, because it never disappointed. You really wanted to get these people to safety and I often found myself deeply affected whenever one of the more lovable members of the group bit the dust.
The game's name really hits the nail on the head. It is what it's all about; not "the" journey, but "a" journey. Every player will experience his very own. Mine was quite classy, I tell you. Everything worked out perfectly: I made my first couple of steps in the vast desert on my own, quickly learning the few gameplay mechanics, then, just when I was about to get frustrated hitting a road-block in terms of my advances, received help from another player, who silently appeared not too far away from me. From this moment on it was a much more joyful, quicker ride. The more experienced helper always watched out for me and made sure I was advancing at a pace that comfortably suited me, even backtracking a couple of times to find my disoriented and sorry alter ego stuck at the wrong end of the map. What a devastating (but inevitable) experience it was to loose this comforting guidance ... in the end I was on my own again. The last few steps I had to undertake without a helping hand; a friend who constantly reassured me that I was indeed on the right track by sheer determination, experience and skill. Yeah, I'm gonna play this again some time.